Salmon group keeps Naden owner on board

The president of a Masset fishing lodge that was recently fined for breaking fisheries rules will stay on as a director of the Pacific Salmon Foundation.

Kevin Nugent is president and chairman of Naden Lodge, a private fishing lodge in Masset that was recently fined $15,000 by Fisheries and Oceans Canada for two Fisheries Act violations that occurred last spring and summer — exceeding a possession limit and selling fish not covered by a commercial licence.

Nugent also sits on the board of directors for the Pacific Salmon Foundation, a non-profit charity dedicated to conserving and restoring wild Pacific salmon habitats across B.C. and the Yukon. The Foundation has funded conservation efforts on Haida Gwaii.

After the fisheries violations were made public, the Foundation received at least one call for Nugent to resign.

Michael Meneer, a spokesperson for the Pacific Salmon Foundation, says Nugent was quick to acknowledge that Naden Lodge broke the rules last season, and has since made policy and personnel changes to make sure it doesn’t happen again

“Mr. Nugent hasn’t resigned, and we haven’t asked him to resign,” said Meneer.

“He was very forthright with us, and timely with disclosing this.”

Nugent, who declined to speak with the Observer, first got involved with the Pacific Salmon Foundation through a partnership program, in which Naden and other sport fishing companies give $25 per guest to support the Foundation’s conservation work.

In 2014, Naden doubled its pledge to $50 per guest.

Besides his work on the board of directors, Nugent, who lives in Calgary, assists the Foundation by telling other Alberta anglers about its conservation program.